Evaluation of Autochtonous Pomegranate Biotypes: Morphological and Compositional Aspects

Pomegranate is getting an increasing attention from the Italian market for its high amount of secondary products contained into the fruit juice. Its consumption is correlated to reduced risks of coronary heart diseases, certain types of cancer and other human diseases. In Italy, pomegranate is present since ancient time and, in Latium Region (Central Italy), it exists since Roman time. In this Region ancient resources of pomegranate germplasm are still present, with several biotypes dif- fering for pomological and organoleptic traits. Recently, collection and character- ization of ancient plants has been performed, following the guidelines of the law 15/2000, emanated by the “Regione Lazio”, with the aim to preserve the agricultural resources of Latium Region. Seven accessions have been propagated and cultivated in a collection field, at the University of Tuscia, for extra-situ investiga- tions. The accessions differ for pomological traits and chemical composition of aril. Five of them belong to typology with low-medium acidity and high sugar content, while the other ones belong to typology with high acidity. Among the biotypes tested, MG2 and MG3 seem to be particularly interesting for the fruit traits and quality. Juice and peels’ extract of both Tordimonte and MG1 accessions contained high amount of phenylpropanoid compounds such as punicalin and punicaligin, respectively